Draknek Limited | Free [$6/£6 full game unlock]
- It’s a word game, but not really
- Crack the entry code for a series of interlocking nonsense words
- Spare but classy presentation
LOK Digital presents as a word game, but it really isn’t. Sure, at a very basic level the idea is to pick out works from a scramble of letters arranged in a crossword-like configuration.
But those words are mostly nonsensical (LOK, TLAK, TA) and extremely repetitious. How many word games do you know of that don’t require any spelling or vocabulary skills whatsoever?
Blacked out tiles let you play through them
What is required is the ability to spot patterns and intuit new rulesets through instruction, observation and experimentation. When you tap or swipe out the word LOK early on, you’ll need to finalise the word by pressing any other tile, whether a blank or letter. Spell out TA, and every block of the type you subsequently tap is instantly blacked out, essentially rendering them inert.
X tiles, meanwhile, serve as conduits, enabling you to form simple words across the entire span of a game grid.
X tiles really open out the boards
Despite the simplicity of the concept, I initially found myself slightly stumped as to what LOK Digital required of me. However, once it clicks, it really clicks. It’s one of those pure puzzle gaming moments where you really feel the ‘aha’, and it’s something I haven’t experienced in a mobile game in quite some time.
It does get very tricky, and I found the later levels in each world almost too much for my cold-riddled head to handle. You can progress without 100% completion of each world, however, and there’s a simple, unpatronizing hint system available to you.
The presentation is sparse, but still has personality
The presentation is extremely minimalistic, with a monochrome palette and little in the way of fine detail. But it works perfectly with the stripped back nature of the game. The developer also throws in some welcome personality in the shape of a race of cute creatures that you’re meant to be guiding through each level, as well as a real earworm of a main ditty.
LOK Digital gives you a small selection of levels to work through for free, but you’ll need to pay $6/£6 to unlock the full experience. By all means try it on for size first, but I can assure you that this is the kind of premium puzzler that’s worth every penny of that one-off fee.
The hint system is suitably low key
There simply aren’t as many genuinely clever and surprising logic puzzlers appearing on the App Store as there used to be – not exhibiting the level of taste and refinement that Draknek Limited has on display here. The app is a digital rendition of the acclaimed LOK puzzle book, and it shows in the thoughtfulness of the puzzles. If you pine for the golden era of the App Store, this is precisely the kind of game (and developer) you need to be supporting with your hard earned money.